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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22659625">Ribbons</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_cascade/pseuds/a_cascade'>a_cascade</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Crimson Days 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Crimson Days (Destiny), Drabble, Ficlet, Fluff, Kissing, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 15:14:02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,212</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22659625</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_cascade/pseuds/a_cascade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cayde asks Zavala to help him decorate the Tower for Crimson Days. It doesn’t go exactly as planned.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Cayde-6/Zavala (Destiny)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Crimson Days 2020 [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1630171</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Ribbons</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/NocturnalMe/gifts">NocturnalMe</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Happy Crimson Days, everyone! In the spirit of the event that is starting today, here's a short and sweet Cayde/Zavala fic.</p><p>Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The Vanguard war room was quiet, the only sound the broke the silence was the occasional tap as Zavala worked away on his datapad. The Vanguard Commander lounged in his seat at the head of the table in the center of the room, sporting a plain red sweater rather than his usual armor, one leg crossed over the other as he browsed through Guardian reports. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the scheduled strikes had proceeded as planned with minimal injuries and great success. As he read through a notice from Ikora regarding a certain raggedy man who had taken up camp in the back alley of the bazaar he made a mental note to call together a meeting to discuss how to move forward with that situation.</p><p>Zavala was startled as Cayde dropped a heavy box on the table next to him. Zavala looked up from his datapad and gave Cayde a stern look. It seemed the brief moment of peace and quiet that he had found for himself was already over. Zavala sighed.</p><p>“Hey, big guy,” Cayde smiled innocently. Zavala stayed silent and just watched him as if he were waiting for him to explain himself. "Why do you look like you want to throw me off the Tower?" The hunter vanguard fidgeted under the scrutiny of his gaze.</p><p>“Cayde—” Zavala stopped mid-sentence to regard the box, practically bursting at the seams. He was surprised it was able to hold anything at all. A dusting of glitter had settled on the table. Zavala swiped some of it away with his hand. “What is all of this?” He tried clapping the residual glitter from his hands. No use. He was sure he'd be finding glitter around the war room for months to come.</p><p>“This? This is just my... Oh, you mean <em>this </em>stuff? Decorations, of course! Can’t have the tower looking drab during the holidays. People will talk.” Cayde started removing items from the box and laying them out on the table: lanterns, banners, streamers, poppers, toppers, roses, and of course, ribbons. Soon the entire table was covered and Zavala had nowhere left to work. The Vanguard Commander sighed. It seemed that his work would have to be put off for the time being.</p><p>Cayde gave him the Exo equivalent of puppy eyes, the sockets of his eyes going wide as his optics glowed brighter, the vocal diaphragm in his mouth shining bright yellow as he spoke, “So, you’ll help me?”</p><p>Zavala closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Do I really have a choice?”</p><p>“What’s the matter? Got a hot date?” Cayde started arranging the decorations on the table by type and color. “I mean, you <em> do </em>have a choice, but if you don’t help, I’ll be sad.” The hunter winked.</p><p>Zavala sighed, “Very well, I shall assist you.”</p><p>Cayde whooped before grabbing an armful of decorations from the table. “Follow me.”</p><p> </p><p>***</p><p> </p><p>They started in the hangar and after a few hours had worked their way down to the bazaar. It was mostly empty, save for a few sweeper frames that silently cleaned the space in preparation for the day. It was still the early hours of the morning, just before dawn. The sun’s rays had not yet peeked out from beneath the horizon. The only light that illuminated the bazaar came from the few scattered candles Cayde had lit.</p><p>The two got to work. They hung lanterns all around the bazaar, tossed rose petals on every walkway, switched out the yellow and orange banners for ones of crimson and white. Zavala set a rose in the gazebo for Ikora, knowing she'd find it later that morning.</p><p>Zavala had to admit that it had been worth the effort to decorate the Tower. The citizens and Guardians alike would certainly appreciate it. It would be a much-needed boost to morale after the events of the Red War. Zavala had to admire Cayde for his ingenuity.</p><p>Zavala turned as he heard a flower pot shatter on the ground only to watch as the man in question, too stubborn to use a ladder, leaped high into the air to wrap ribbons around the higher beams. The nimble hunter used the wall of the New Monarchy courtyard to kick himself up to a nearby platform, his foot catching on metal pipe jutting out from the wall. Then, just as he set a garland of flowers up on a ledge, he slipped and lost his footing, and as he came falling back down his arms snagged the ribbons. The whole array came down with him in a cascade of crimson and glitter. Zavala stood before him with his arms crossed over his chest, his lips curled up gently in amusement. The Exo blinked in confusion as if he hadn’t yet processed that he had fallen.</p><p>“I-I think I’m stuck, Zavala.” Cayde struggled against the ribbons, but they wrapped tighter around his arms. “Little help here?” His feet dangled about half a foot off the ground as he kicked at the air.</p><p>“Hold still,” Zavala said. As soon as Zavala laid his hands on his waist to still him, Cayde stopped squirming. He felt the nanotubes behind his faceplate stop pumping coolant and his face began to heat up. Zavala started to unwrap the ribbons from his arms with one hand while he held him steady against his own body with the other in case the ribbons stopped being able to support the Exo’s weight.</p><p>“Thanks. For helping me, I mean,” Cayde flexed his fingers as Zavala freed one of his hands. He tossed the loose ribbons on the ground. “This kind of stuff is really important to me, ya know? During the holidays everyone can forget about their worries for a little while and just focus on spending time with the people they care about. So, I’m glad you came to help even though you were busy and I know you didn’t want to because it's not really your kind of thing and—”</p><p>“Cayde,” Zavala interrupted him. The Exo looked up and blinked at him. “I may not always show it, but I enjoy your company. I was glad to do this for you.” Zavala cleared his throat. “I suppose you could say that you were my... ‘<em>hot date’</em>, as you put it.” The Awoken man’s eyes twinkled humorously.</p><p>Cayde opened his mouth as if to say something, but all the came out was a squeak. His mouth closed again with an audible snap.</p><p>Zavala managed to get the rest of the ribbons off of Cayde and gently lowered him back onto the ground. He did not step away. Cayde didn’t even notice him pull a lone ribbon off his shoulder. His glowing blue Awoken eyes were fixed on the Exo’s electronic ones. Before Cayde knew it, he had two fistfuls of Zavala’s sweater in his hands and he was pulling him down into a firm kiss. The titan’s hands came up to rest over the hunter’s, squeezing them. His hands trailed down Cayde’s arms to his shoulders, then slid down the arch of his back to his waist as he pulled him closer.</p><p>Cayde broke away breathless, his voice box crackling as he spoke, “Happy Crimson Days, Zavala.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop by and say hi to me on <a href="https://twitter.com/cleverly_not">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://jes-jones.tumblr.com/">Tumblr</a>. Feedback is much appreciated.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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